As the Summer 2024 Olympics in Paris commences, the United States Olympic & Paralympics Committee (USOPC) is vigilant against unauthorized use of its trademarks. The USOPC filed a lawsuit against a U.S. beverage company, alleging the use of Olympic-related terms like “OLYMPIC” and “TEAM USA” without permission. These trademarks are vital for the USOPC’s funding … Continue Reading
As the attention of the sporting world is poised to focus on the next edition of the Olympic Games in Paris, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has taken the opportunity to announce its partnership with the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Saudi Arabia to host the inaugural Olympic Esports Games 2025 in the Kingdom of … Continue Reading
The Portuguese Competition Authority (“PCA”) last week ordered the Portuguese Professional Football League (“LPFP”) to suspend no-poach agreements implemented between clubs. This follows the adoption by the LPFP of a resolution whereby football clubs agreed not to hire football players from other clubs “who unilaterally terminated their employment contract due to issues caused by the … Continue Reading
It has been reported that the European Commission met with officials from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in November to discuss rules that restrict athletes’ marketing activities during a ‘blackout’ period around the Olympic Games. The meeting follows a recent ruling in Germany, which found that certain IOC restrictions breached antitrust rules and unlawfully limited … Continue Reading
Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe dropped, what is known as a Woj Bomb, last week as they announced that the NBA is in high level discussions with the NBPA (the National Basketball Players Association) and broadcasting partners concerning “sweeping and dramatic changes to the league calendar that include a reseeding of the four conference finalists, … Continue Reading
In part 1 of ‘whose data is it anyway’, we considered the position of Football DataCo and Betgenius, with particular reference to the experience of a Hull City fan who was questioned in relation to “unauthorised data gathering” during a match against Reading. In this, the final part of our two-part series, Sport Shorts considers … Continue Reading
The Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has closed the ongoing investigation into the international governing body of equestrian sports, Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI). The investigation was instigated after the competition prosecutor general at the BCA received complaints in 2015. In 2015, the Global Champions League (GCL) accused the FEI of imposing “exclusivity clauses” that prevented riders … Continue Reading
On 15 January 2019, the Fédération Internationale de Natation (“FINA”), the gatekeeper for access to the Olympic Games and World Championships, announced that swimmers are now free to participate in race meetings that are organised by independent organisers (which includes those that are neither related to FINA or members of FINA) and will not be … Continue Reading
One would safely expect that all (sporting) eyes in New Zealand are currently on the Lions tour after the All Blacks continued their Eden Park winning streak with a comfortable victory in Saturday’s first test. Whilst rugby is unquestionably New Zealand’s national sport, perhaps a close second in the nation’s heart is, surprisingly, America’s Cup … Continue Reading
The Court of Appeal has recently handed down judgment in the latest in a line of cases relating to the showing of Premier League football matches in UK pubs using foreign satellite decoder cards. The Court of Appeal found in favour of the Premier League, confirming that unauthorised use of a decoder card licensed for … Continue Reading
The European Commission announced on 27 September 2016 that it had sent a formal “statement of objections” to the International Skating Union, alleging that the ISU’s rule banning skaters from taking part in unauthorised speed skating events and subject to a lifetime ban sanction, infringes the prohibition of anticompetitive agreements in Article 101(1) of the … Continue Reading
